Sparklings and Seekers
by S. Phantom
Summary: When a explosion caused many of the mechs to turn into sparklings, help comes in a somewhat surprising form.
1. Chapter 1

This came from Sanjuno on the TF Bunny farm over on lj. You can probably guess the prompt by the end of this chapter, but I'm going to start off saying that it involves seekers and sparklings. Seekers meaning Decepticon flyers.

I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoy writing it.

**oOo**

It had been an accident, of course. It was always an accident.

And since it was an accident, the blame could easily be placed on something that Wheeljack made.

Everyone had a healthy sense of preservation whenever it came to one of those inventions. Stay away from the lab, stay away from the invention itself, and definitely stay away from the inventor when he pulled it out on the battlefield.

No one was sure as to what happened. Wheeljack had been fighting Mixmaster and then there was a loud explosion. Many optics widened as their comrades were caught in the resulting wave of energy before ducking down and covering their heads.

Once sensors stopped screaming at them about the impending danger, Autobots and Decepticons alike climbed back to their feet and grief was almost palatable in the air when they noticed that a good deal of the mechs were missing.

That was until Motormaster spoke up.

"What the slag? What is this doing here?"

Very few mechs could see what the Stunticon was holding in his hand, but the piercing cry of a Sparkling was very hard to mistaken.

"Bluestreak!" Prowl whispered, horrified as he saw the hand begin to tighten. "No! BLUESTREAK!"

What happened next was just as surprising as the explosion.

The black and purple form of Skywarp appeared before Motormaster, latched onto the hand, and warped away. Motormaster cried out in pain, clutching the wrist just below where the hand was before the other two seekers of the trine came like death from above, Starscream dropping from the sky with no use of his thrusters to slow descent, crushing the semi Decepticon under him as Thundercracker's aimed point blank at Motormaster's spark chamber and fired.

Silence fell over field at the sudden and unexpected death of the 'Con, except for Bluestreak's terrified cries.

Optics looked to where Skywarp sat on the ground, easily prying off the useless hand and tossing it behind him before holding the sparkling close, cooing and chirping softly. Bluestreak's cries began to soften and Jazz quickly made his way over to the two of them. Skywarp refused to give up the sparkling, for some reason, so Jazz just crouched beside them and talked with them.

Prowl opened a channel. "Prowl to Optimus Prime." Static greeted him. "Prime, please respond!"

"It's no use," Ratchet said, coming up behind Prowl. "It caught Optimus. Megatron too." In Ratchet's arms were two sparkling, one with Optimus's red and blue scheme, while the other had Megatron's gunmetal gray. "What are your orders?"

Prowl wasn't sure what to order. He had a hard time fighting off his logic chips' urge to freeze.

"May I make a suggestion, sir?" Skyfire said, coming closer.

"Anything."

"We need the help of the seekers."

"What!?" Ratchet looked at Skyfire with disbelieving optics.

The tactician looked around, watching everyone. A few of the normal Autobots had began to help pick up the Sparklings, disregarding faction. The Decepticons just looked confused, but Starscream and Thundercracker had begun to pick up others. Thundercracker had Sideswipe and Sunstreaker in his arms and Starscream was easily holding Soundwave, Mixmaster, and Wheeljack.

"Ratchet?" Prowl said. "You're in charge."

And then Prowl collapsed as his logic chips finally froze.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: **Again, original bunny belongs to Sanjuno, and much credit to MajinBakaHentai for helping flesh out ideas and giving a lot of good pointers.

And many thanks to those of you who reviewed. I'm completely floored at how much encouragement I received and can only hope that I'm meeting you expectations!

**oOo**

Ratchet was, unsurprisingly, developing a processor ache. It wasn't the fault of the sparklings. Oh no. It was because every time Skywarp, Thundercracker, or Starscream brought the tiny mechs by, his systems tensed before he could stop it and now that he started to think about it, his entire frame was going to ache later if he got any time to relax.

"Who have we checked?" he asked tiredly and First Aid searched for the datapad he had been using. Behind them, Prowl was still in stasis lock and will probably be stuck like that until everything was sorted.

It had been fairly easy to transport everyone back to the Ark., with a majority of the mechs as sparklings and no one wanting to fight after the merciless display of power that the Seekers had given. It was as simple as herding everyone onto a transformed Skyfire and trying to keep their audios function with crying sparklings everywhere.

"We've got Optimus Prime, Bluestreak, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Wheeljack, and Beachcomber of our side so far. Of the Decepticons, Megatron, Soundwave, Mixmaster, Scrapper, Scavenger, and Swindle."

"How many more?"

"I'm not sure sir."

With a huff of air through his vents, Ratchet said, "Bring the next one in."

First Aid did as he was told and was only faintly surprised when Swoop walked in with a rather tiny Grimlock, Slag, and Snarl in his arms while Sludge followed close behind. The three sparklings were nibbling on Swoop's fingers while Sludge was trying to play with his feet but the Dinobot didn't seem to care.

"Oh Primus…"

It was definitely going to be a long day.

**oOo**

"So…" Perceptor started, uncertainty lacing his voice. Skyfire was a comforting presence close behind him, and he was the only reason why the microscope was willing to be in the same room as the three seekers. That, and the numerous sparklings sure helped. "Why exactly are you so protective of the sparklings?"

"Is it that surprising?" Starscream asked, venom in his voice. Though it was a bit hard to feel threatened by the seeker when the bright red and white form of Inferno was practically attached to his head, tiny fingers clinging onto the helm vents while he nibbled on a corner. "We weren't programmed to be sparkless, ruthless aerial fighters from the start. There were many times during the academy when I had to act as an escort when sparkling had to be transferred to and from the nurseries."

"No body was willing to mess with a seeker protecting a sparkling," Thundercracker said with a nod. Climbing on his back was Beachcomber, the sparkling geologist comparing his coloring to that of Thundercracker. "We were originally to be the best and quickest way to protect sparklings. We were trusted with the future of Cybertron."

"Until Megatron came along," Starscream spat. "Because of him, our programs became corrupt when he forced us to fight for him."

"What about…" Perceptor glanced to the last seeker in the area. Skwarp wasn't even trying to appear as if he was pay attention to the talks. He had Trailbreaker, Hotspot, Swindle, and Scrapper all climbing over him and he was chirruping away, playing with them as if it was the most natural thing to do. And if what the other two said was correct, then it probably was. There were still a few sparkling with Ratchet and First Aid, and Swoop and Jazz were also taking care of many others. Perceptor was now certain that any future battles will be over who gets fed first and who's turn it was with a toy.

"Warp is the youngest of us, and the last to become and Decepticon," Thundercracker explained dryly. "His instincts are less buried than ours."

"So if this keeps up, you two will start acting like this?" Skyfire asked, sounding amused.

Starscream's optics narrowed at the question but before he could do anything, the door slid open and in came the red form of Frenzy, Soundwave carried on his back as he went up to the lead seeker. "Hey boss. He won't stop fussin' for any of us."

The seeker glared at the two normal Autobots for a few more moments before easily lifting the telepath off of the Cassetticon, cradling him close and cooing softly as he coaxed Soundwave to remove the mask. When the mask was gone, Soundwave caught a hold of Starscream's hand and got a finger in his mouth, now relaxed with the new chew toy.

Frenzy watched, amused by this. It was only by luck that the Cassetticons were too far away to be caught by the explosion and they seem to be handling their creator turned sparkling fairly well

"Some of us will be a bit more dignified about it." Thundercracker crossed his arms, smiling as Wheeljack toddled over to the Autobots and holding up a bit of plastic to show them. A bit uncertain, Perceptor took the plastic and thanked the inventor, receiving a giggle in reply as the sparkling wandered off again, this time on his hands and knees.

"I'm actually surprised that you haven't had any instinct pop up like this."

"I was a transport shuttle," the large Autobot answered. "I didn't have the same programs as you three before the war." What Skyfire didn't say was that he felt a brief flash of rage when he saw Motormaster about ready to hurt Bluestreak. He wasn't sure if that had something to do with the same instincts the seekers had or that a comrade was about to get hurt.

Skyfire had stiffened when a request came over his comm., and he saw Thundercracker do the same. They both nodded and as they stood, Thundercracker took Beachcomber off of his back and placed him onto Skywarp's back and Skyfire said, "Ratchet just requested us and he sounds a bit desperate. We'll be back shortly."

The others nodded and watched them leave and after a minute, Perceptor realized that he was now left alone with two seekers and a bunch of sparklings. "So…" he started. "Apparently you know best. How do we take care of them?"

One red optic looked up at him but Starscream didn't take his attention away from Soundwave. Perceptor didn't know if it was possible for it to get any weirder.

**oOo**

Thundercracker winced as the sound of things being broken reached his audios and it didn't take him long to find out why. He and Skyfire came upon the room that Drag Strip and Wildrider were placed in only to see that it had been torn apart by the two enraged Stunticons.

Pressed into a corner was First Aid, holding the sparkling forms of Dead End and Breakdown, simultaneously trying to calm them down and watch for the larger mechs' moves. Only Ratchet was close by to protect them, a blaster one hand and energo-scalpels in the other.

Thundercracker acted without orders or prompting. The seeker jumped into the air, slipping around the mechs and forcing Drag Strip back into Skyfire's grasp. The shuttle easily caught and restrained the mech but Wildrider actually fought back until Thundercracker was able to force the mech to the ground, resting his weight in the middle of his back with one turbine heel pressed against the side of Wildrider's helm.

"Leave," was Thundercracker's hissed order and Ratchet quickly escorted First Aid and the sparklings out.

Before they got too far, Skyfire caught Ratchet's attention and asked, "What happened?"

"The sparklings managed to slip away from us. When we got here, I guess the realization of what happened sunk in and they couldn't be controlled."

The shuttle nodded. "We got it from here."

As Ratchet continued down the hall, Skyfire looked back to Thundercracker, glad that he wasn't on the receiving end of the seeker's wrath.

"You two are such ingrates," the flyer grounded out. "I know that you'll be grieving because of Starscream and I, but I swear to you now, if I had choose, I would destroy any mech that threatens a sparkling, Autobot or Decepticon without any qualms."

Wildrider tried to get back up but Thundercracker forced his head back down again, grounding the thruster a bit more. "You and Wildrider will be separated until we're sure that you two won't destroy each other. After that, we might allow you to visit the rest of your gestalt with the company of myself, Starscream, or Skywarp. Am I clear?"

At first, the Stunticon made no move to answer. But then his optics shuttered and a soft, keening cry left the mech. Satisfied, Thundercracker left him, locked the door to the room, and escorted the others to another room and left Wildrider in that.

Skyfire shuddered at the distressed sounds the mechs were making but at this point in time, there was nothing that anyone could do to help. With the problem taken care of, the two flyers headed to the medbay to pick up the other sparklings, which were practically shoved into Thundercracker's arms.

Thundercracker didn't protest the actions. In fact, he immediately turned and headed back to the large hanger where the rest of his trine was, careful to keep Dead End asleep while trying to calm Breakdown, crooning softly.

"I believe that it the last of them," Ratchet said tiredly, rubbing his optics. "Would you mind staying with the sparklings?"

"Not at all."

"And send Perceptor down. We need to formulate some energon for the Sparklings before any of them get hungry."

"Yes sir."

Skyfire left Ratchet and First Aid as the two 'Bots turned to look at Prowl, debating on whether they should fix him now or leave him be since the second in command wouldn't get much rest after this. It didn't take long to make it back to the others, meeting Perceptor halfway and giving him the message. With a faintly baffled expression, the microscope agreed and went on.

The red and white shuttle didn't know what to expect when he got to the hanger. It sure wasn't for the three seekers to be curled in a pile, various sparklings all around them and even in recharge draped over them. Jazz and Swoop were there too with the sparkling they volunteered to watch.

"C'mon, Sky," Starscream said, his voice slurring a bit with sleep. "You're going to need to get as much recharge as you can. In a few days, it's going to be hard to do unless we get some help. We will definitely need help."

At his feet, Wheeljack and Beachcomber reached up, wanting to be picked up and Skyfire obliged, smiling as the two sparklings settled down in his hands and slipped into recharge. Skyfire walked over the rather large pile of mechs, both big and tiny, and settled down in a clear spot. A few of the other sparklings climbed his leg armor before relaxing and recharging in what appeared to be the most uncomfortable positions. Skyfire figured that Starscream was right. They're going to need help.

**oOo**

**Author's Note:** If there's anything you want to see, suggest it when you leave a review. Because if I can't think of anything, I fear that the chapters would be few and far apart…


	3. Chapter 3

Prowl wasn't really sure what woke him up. The last thing he remembered was his logic chips crashing. But when he online, he immediately knew that it wasn't the same type of onlining that came from when Ratchet finished fixing him.

While he didn't know what woke him up, he immediately associated the sparkling chirping at him to be Bluestreak, and that said sparkling was quite content on watching him online.

"How long have you been there?" he asked, not really expecting a reply but got one anyway.

"For about a minute," Jazz answered, coming into view. "He's been latched onto me ever since we got back and has only calmed down when you're near."

Prowl pushed himself up to a sitting position, dislodging the sparkling. Bluestreak tumbled down to rest in his lap, giggling the entire time. "Do I want to know?"

Even though the question could have meant anything, Jazz answered it with what Prowl wanted. "The only Autobots not caught by the blast were me, you, Ratchet, Skyfire, and the mechs that weren't on the battle field."

"And the Decepticons?

"The seekers escaped it, Soundwave's cassettes, plus two Stunticons. We locked them up because they've been highly unstable since coming here."

"And whoever wasn't at the battle," Prowl murmured, though his attention was quickly diverted to Bluestreak. The sparkling was trying to hand him a shiny piece of plastic which was oddly twisted to look like a flower.

"Skywarp made those," Jazz explained as Prowl took the offered flowered, looking a bit baffled as Bluestreak settled down and snuggled right up against the armor of Prowl abdomen. "He was with my group earlier."

"Where's 'your group' now?"

"With Blaster and his cassettes. They're able to watch larger groups easier than us."

"Is there a reason why the Seekers have been helping with the sparklings?" Prowl asked at last, the one question that's been in his processor since he woke up.

"Yes, but Ratchet better explain it."

"Why Ratchet?"

"Because I don't want to dodge wrenches when I told him I made you fritz. And not in a good way."

Prowl warmed in embarrassment at the comment that Jazz made and was glad that Bluestreak was currently a sparkling. The little mech was already in recharge and definitely wouldn't remember it.

**oOo**

"No! Touch hurt!"

Those words greeted Prowl and Jazz as the walked into the medbay and by this time, Prowl had dedicated only a percentage of his processor to the errors his logic chips were sending him. And he was glad that he did so.

Because there would have been a good possibility that he would have fritzed when he saw a rather tiny Sunstreaker holding onto an equally tiny Sideswipe with a death grip. Sunstreaker glared at Ratchet, actually growling every time the medic reached for either one of them.

"Still trying to remove Side's jetpack?"

"Yes. And he cries out every time I reach for him." Ratchet sighed. "When they were normal, it was practically impossible to get them to leave me alone. Now they don't want to be here!"

In Prowl's arms, Bluestreak woke up and looked around, watching the others intently. Whenever one of the twins looked back at him, Bluestreak would hide his face against Prowl's armor. Quickly, this escalated to a game on whether they could catch the other watching and Ratchet used this distraction to his advantage.

Jazz and Bluestreak visibly winced at the stereo effect of the twins' crying, but the other two just took it in stride, Ratchet quickly taking the tiny jetpack and subspacing. He knew that if either one of the sparklings saw where he put it, they'd go after it when he wasn't looking.

A moment later, Ratchet opened his comm. and said out loud, "Can someone come get the twins?"

After a minute the medbay door opened and Thundercracker walked in, grinning slightly when Prowl tensed, his doorwings arching up. He easily gathered the twins up, the both of them clinging onto his armor and crying, no longer wanting anything to do Ratchet.

"Is there anyone else you want to look at?" Thundercracker asked.

"Not now. It can wait for later."

"All right." He started back to the door, pausing by Prowl and asking, "Want me to take the little one?"

Bluestreak promptly answered that by pressing closer to Prowl and Thundercracker left it at that, not forcing the sparkling to come with them. When the doors closed, Prowl turned and looked at Ratchet. "Explain."

**oOo**

Swoop was faintly baffled at everything that was happening. He was in the medbay when Starscream came in and explained the Seeker programs that had them be so protective of sparklings. When he got done, he gave Swoop a look and ask what programs were installed in him. When Ratchet told him, Starscream said, "You'll do just fine," and left it at that.

Of course, he wondered if this is what he meant when he onlined to the feeling of small feet walking over his chassis.

"You Grimlock _off_!" he said tiredly, picking the tiny Dinobot leader, only to sigh in annoyance when the sparkling settled down in his hands and went into recharge.

And that wasn't even half of it. Swoop could have sworn that he left the others to recharge in a crib like contraption that Jazz had helped him put together, but Grimlock was on his chest, Sludge was curled up by his head, Slag was on one of his wings, and Snarl was curled up next to his body, each of them in their dinosaur mode.

Though he had to admit, with his four other team mates next to him like this, it was rather comforting…

**oOo**

Silverbolt wasn't sure what he expected when he came back to the Ark, the rest of the Aerialbots in their section of the Ark, resting and getting some energon before they decide whether they should visit the main sections or just stay in their area.

It could almost be the same as any other day. The twins were being chased by Red Alert. Ironhide was watching them, grumbling to himself. Wheeljack was talking to Perceptor in some incoherent babble that no one else appeared to understand. Hound was sitting beside Mirage and trying to share his energon with the highborn mech. Bluestreak was talking nonstop to Prowl, not caring that the tactician was only half paying attention to him, the other half on a report in his hand.

If it weren't for the fact that everyone except Prowl and Perceptor were sparklings, it was almost like a normal day at the base.

"Prowl?" he asked as he came close to the Datsun. On the table, Bluestreak fell silent, staring up at Silverbolt fearfully and the Aerialbot was suspicious that the quiet sparkling was the only reason why Prowl looked up.

"Ah. Silverbolt, back from the aerial exercises?" He took the datapad that Silverbolt held out to him.

"Yes. If you don't mind me asking, what happened?"

"A long explanation that's best given to you by Ratchet." After glancing over the datapad, he subspaced it. "Pay no mind to the Decepticons. They're only here to help."

"What!?"

**oOo**

Fireflight thought it was a legitimate question. But apparently the others didn't really think so.

"Hey guys? Why is there a little Blades in here?"

"Not _now_ Flight!" was the instantaneous response, three other voices blending into one.

"No! Seriously! Come over here and look!"

With a sigh, Air Raid was the first one to come over only to stop, staring down at the small form in confusion. When the other two came over, they could only do the same.

"… Are we sure it's Blades?"

"I don't hang around him much but that's definitely his armor."

"It could be a toy."

"Like one of those stuffed animal things humans have?"

"Yea."

Slingshot reached forward only to pull back when he got a angry growl for his troubles.

"No, he's real."

"Is he a… a baby?"

"I'm not sure."

"What are we to do with him?"

"There you are!"

In unison, the four Aerialbots just watched in shock as Skywarp walked into their area. "I turn around for two seconds to help Inferno and you disappear on me!" The black and purple seeker picked up the sparkling, and heedless to Blades growling and chewing on his fingers, he gave the other four a smile. "Sorry about that. I'll try to make sure it doesn't happen again."

The seeker turned and left. All four of them were still staring at the door after it had shut and before too long, Fireflight said, "Hit me."

"Why…" Skydive asked, distracted.

"Because either I ran into something or a Decepticon was just civil with us. I'm not sure which one I prefer, but only the first one could possible happen. Just hit me."

**oOo**

From now on, I'm going to be working with the sparklings in small groups so you might not see every sparkling in every chapter. I fear my brain would melt trying to keep them straight…


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note:** I had some idea help from Raven of the Backwoods Clan and Sanjuno Shiro Niko for this one. It might not be what they had in mind, but parts of their ideas helped much!

**oOo**

"No! MINE!"

A snicker came from across the room and Starscream tensed faintly as he heard Frenzy say, "He's a sparkling and he still commands you!"

Starscream gave up on trying to pull away Megatron's new favorite toy, a doll made by taking a towel and putting stuffing in the middle and tying it off so that it had a head, and glared at the cassette. When he glanced back at the sparkling and saw that Megatron had a death grip on the cloth but was playing with something else, Starscream got up, went over to where the cassette was, and "stole" the tiny Soundwave.

"Then you get to put away the toys."

"Why me!"

"Because you made the snide remark. And it's Sound's feeding time and I have his energon. You might be his creation but he'll only remove the mask for me."

The seeker pulled the energon out of his subspace and held it up to Soundwave who eagerly grabbed for it and removed his mask, wanting the fuel. The liquid container was much like a sippy cup that human children used, and wouldn't spill unless the top was somehow pried off.

Needless to say, Sideswipe had already figured out how to do this and painted part of the wall before he was caught.

Subconsciously, Starscream began to hum as Soundwave began to nod off, his grip getting weaker and weaker until he dropped the small cube. It bounced harmless on the floor until a rather small Optimus picked it up and offered it back to Starscream.

"Thank you Optimus. Would you like your own?" With the used cup placed away and a new one in hand, Starscream offered it to the tiny leader who took it, glancing over at Megatron. "Oh no you don't. Megatron already had his energon. Everyone already had their energon. You need yours, got it?"

Optimus just nodded and trotted off to his own corner where others knew by now that if he was over there, only the seekers could approach him. This time was no different. The moment he sat down, others looked away while he removed his own mask and began to consume his fuel.

Sure that the last sparkling had his fuel now, Starscream took Soundwave over to one wall where numerous blankets were arrange, appearing almost like birds nests for the sparklings to sleep in. Starscream coaxed Soundwave's mask back over the features, knowing that Soundwave didn't want to wake up to everyone being able to see his face, and placed him on one of the nests, covering him with a soft blanket.

As Soundwave settled down into a deeper recharge, Ravage walked over and curled up beside her creator, still the ever loyal creation. Beside him, Rumble carefully placed Red Alert down in his own nest and watched with amusement as Inferno pulled over a few blankets to curl up beside the small security director, falling into his recharge nap.

"I think these two are bonded, Boss," Rumble said, heading back out into the room to find more sparklings, pausing only after a few steps to pick up a sleepy Trailbreaker, having to adjust his balance before moving back over and placing him down on the next available nest.

"That would actually explain a lot of things," Starscream muttered. "We're going to have to find out who's bonded to who so we don't accidentally separate them."

A normal bonded couple was hard enough to deal with when they've been away from each other for a while. For sparklings who wouldn't know what the feelings were, it might be much worse.

"No! Mine!"

Starscream sighed as he placed Scrapper down for his nap and turned around, smirking when he saw that not only were none of the toys put away, a majority of them were now piled around Megatron and Optimus had now wandered close enough to be snared by the gunformer.

Optimus wasn't trying to get away from Megatron. He wasn't really trying to do much either. The small Autobot leader just sat by Megatron, watching Frenzy calmly and offering the cassette a toy, helping out as much as he can. Megatron noticed Optimus going behind his back and would take it away, glaring at Frenzy for disobeying.

With only two sparklings left to put down to nap, it seemed so easy. If one of those sparklings wasn't Megatron…

Walking over to them, Starscream bent down to pick up Optimus, only to stop when Megatron grabbed hold of Optimus and refusing to let go.

"Mine!"

"It's now time for recharge," the seeker said firmly. "You either let go of Optimus, or we'll do this the hard way."

Megatron decided on the hard way. He favored letting go of Optimus with one hand to grab Starscream's hand and biting down hard. Rumble saw his opportunity and grabbed Optimus, and Starscream did something unexpected.

The seeker leaned down even further and bit the sparkling back.

In surprise, Megatron released Starscream, staring at him with wide, tearful optics. But before he could cry, Starscream merely picked up the sparkling, soothing chirrups and clicks leaving his vocalizer. Sniffling, Megatron clung to the seeker's armor and settled back down.

"That was a surprising thing you did there, boss," Frenzy murmured, now accomplishing his task of putting away the toys.

"With young ones you have to be firm so that they don't keep the bad habits." Starscream grinned when Frenzy snorted.

It didn't take long for Megatron to be lulled into sleep and after he was put down to nap, the seeker straightened to see Perceptor standing at the door. "Yes?"

"We need to borrow you. For a long while."

The microscope was fidgeting nervously, as if he was waiting for something, so Starscream turned to Frenzy and Rumble and instructed them to contact Skywarp and Thundercracker if they need help before leaving the room and following Perceptor towards the medbay.

He was expecting one of the sparklings to be hurt and in need of comfort, not for Wheeljack reaching for the microscope from Skyfire's hands and gurgling happily when Perceptor picked him up. Prowl was standing a bit off to the side, watching everything calmly

"What's going on?"

Prowl glanced over. "We're sending you, Skyfire, Perceptor, and Wheeljack on a mission to the Decepticon base-"

"Slag no! The Nemesis is no place for a sparkling!"

"He's going," Ratchet said, not sounding too happy. "I know it's not the best of ideas, but there are a few reasons as to why. One is that Wheeljack won't let either Perceptor or Skyfire out of his sight for long. Another is for the possibility of running into Ramjet, Dirge, and Thrust. From the way you've described it, the caretaker programs in most flyers are instantaneous. If those three catch sight of Jackie here, they'll ignore the fact that you're with three Autobots."

Starscream snorted, knowing that Ratchet was right. Why else did his trine risk the sanity of a gestalt by destroying the leader? All that mattered was ensuring the safety of the tiny sparkling.

And it wasn't only in the seekers. Starscream has seen it in the Aerialbots, who didn't appear to notice that something was pulling them to at least observe the sparklings, in Swoop who readily volunteered to take care of his own brothers, and even in Skyfire. Someone who was merely acquainted with Skyfire wouldn't see the difference but to Starscream, the difference was like night and day.

"Why are we going there anyway?" he asked finally, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"We need to find the stuff that Mixmaster used while fighting Wheeljack and I'm expecting that you and Perceptor will have a greater chance if you work together. Skyfire is going to make sure that you three stay safe."

"Mixmaster's chemicals are not the only factor in this whole mess…"

"Which is why I've sent Jazz out to find any remains of Wheeljack's invention so that we can compare it to some of the blue prints in his lab and hopefully reconstruct it."

"So we're just going to randomly test it out on a sparkling!? I think not!"

"We'll figure something that won't put anyone in danger when it gets closer to being finished."

Starscream paused as he thought of something. "What's going to happen when everyone's turned back to normal?" He tried to appear strong and confident, but he doubted that it looked that way. On the inside he felt unsure, not wanting to leave the mechs that he had a hand in raising during the impromptu sparkling stages. He couldn't tell if Prowl saw this but a soft noise from Skyfire told him that someone did.

"The next foreseeable future will affect the current sparklings, that is for sure," Ratchet answered. "Prowl and I have been thinking about this and we're currently trying to create a cease-fire treaty. Since you're the current Commander of the Decepticons, it'll be up to you."

Nodding, he turned to Skyfire and Perceptor, who both froze despite the sparkling playing in Perceptor's arms with a blue towel doll. Just how many of those were made? "You need to pack things for the sparkling. Energon, toys to keep him quiet, whatever. I don't want his crying to alert any other Decepticons that doesn't know what happened."

Perceptor appeared to be thrown off by this but Skyfire nodded. "I can get this done in ten minutes."

"Make it fifteen. I need to go speak with my trine. I'll meet you outside." Seeing Prowl acknowledging his statement, Starscream left the room and opened his sensors, picking up Skywarp's and Thundercracker's signals nearly instantly. Deciding that Thundercracker was closer, he turned and headed towards the blue and red seeker.

Coming to a room, Starscream grinned as he watched Silverbolt holding a small Sideswipe in his hands, a look of awe as he feed the sparkling his energon. In Thundercracker's arms rested Sunstreaker, slowly being coaxed into his recharge nap.

"TC?"

The seeker looked up and carefully walked over to Starscream, avoiding any tiny recharging forms between them. "What's going on?"

"Who says anything is going on?"

"You have a look," Thundercracker said, deadpan. "Seriously. What's going on?"

Starscream quickly outline the plan to Thundercracker, leaving out the cease-fire and the unknown way of testing out the theory for now and luckily, Thundercrackter didn't ask.

"So I'm in charge for now?"

"Basically yes. Make sure everyone stays safe and at least listen to what Prowl has to say."

Thundercracker was quiet for a few moments before saying, "I don't like the idea of that nerd and pacifist being there to protect Wheeljack and backing you up."

"I need them there to help go through Mixmaster's lab," Starscream said quietly, but then a cocky grin appeared. "Besides, you know I don't need backup."


	5. Chapter 5

Starscream sighed softly, his optics offline with the comforting warmth of Wheeljack pressed against his side. The sparkling was surprisingly complaint but with Perceptor in sight and Skyfire all around him, it didn't take much for the tiny inventor to be happy.

And with the coordinates that Starscream gave, they would reach the Nemesis's exact location in a short time.

"Did you ever have a sparkling of your own?"

Perceptor's question startled Starscream out of the light recharge he had settled in and at the flash of crimson optics, the microscope apologized only to have it waved away by the seeker.

"It's an understandable question," Starscream murmured, optics dimming as he looked to Wheeljack who was almost in recharge. It would be better if the sparkling stayed up until they got to the base, but the little one was already late for his nap as it was.

"I didn't have a sparkling. I was too young at the time, too inexperienced. I did help assist in transportation and the guarding of many sparklings. Most flyers and all seekers have thicker armor and a berserker program that will be in affect until the threat is neutralized and that was the main reason why we were often favored for the job. I wasn't an exception. I cared for the small lives as often as I could. There were so many and all of them so beautiful…" He smiled sadly. "That was when I met Skywarp's little femme sibling. But then the attacks happened.

"First was the attack on the Academy after Skywarp graduated. With it came Megatron's demands for equality. They were legitimate enough, even if the process he used to get attention wasn't a good one. And then he appealed to the flyers directly. He said that no sparkling was safe because the ones born of poor families would suffer. If adult mechs and femmes couldn't be equals amongst each other, then the young ones should have a chance.

"He lured a great deal of us into his promises. A majority of us had light weapons so he offered to upgrade them and give us better programs for fighting. And like the glitches we were, we fell for it. A mass of us laid down for one moment, expecting to be up shortly, only to come online to the news that the Autobots had destroyed the nurseries."

"But we never—"

Starscream held up a hand, stalling Perceptor. "I know that. All of us do. But at the time we could only take Megatron's words as fact. He had one of the soldiers record the attack and edit it to appear that it was the Autobots. We were in despair. He lost a good many flyers. I survived because of my trine. Skywarp nearly didn't make it. His bond with his sibling was almost too much.

"Later, when we found the truth, we couldn't fight Megatron's programming. The only way it could have been broken was if a sparkling was in danger, the one line that he could not lock away. And since he had destroyed all of the little ones, we were now his personal army."

"So if Megatron and everyone else were changed back to normal?"

"We would be as we are now. The programs are erased, and our systems have adapted to resist that type of coding if it should appear again."

They fell silent for a moment before Skyfire asked quietly, "What of the seekers that didn't join Megatron before he attacked the nurseries?"

"We might have berserker modes, but enough mechs can take us down if needed." Starscream gave a humorless laugh that had Perceptor shivering. "Megatron lost a good number of soldiers that orn."

After that particular statement, the others fell silent and Starscream focused on Wheeljack again, one hand idly brushing the vocal indicators the small inventor had. It felt too soon when Skyfire announced that they had reached the Nemesis. It took a few minutes of hacking for Starscream, but eventually the ship appeared from the ocean and Skyfire landed easily.

After Starscream and Perceptor, who was carrying Wheeljack, got off, Skyfire changed to his bipedal form and eyed the entrance warily.

"Am I going to fit in there?"

"The hallways are bigger than they appear." Starscream smirked up at his old friend. "Just don't forget to duck at the doorways."

**oOo**

It didn't take long for Starscream to take them to Mixmaster's room. As Skyfire and Starscream began to search through datapads, Perceptor gently placed the recharging Wheeljack on the ground between him and the seeker, trusting that he would be safe there, and warm since he had that odd towel doll wrapped around him.

"Mixmaster seems to be concerned with safety."

"Hmm?" Starscream glanced up and Perceptor, who gestured to the numerous locked cabinets. "Oh. It less of a matter of safety and more of a matter of his gestalt team."

"That does make more sense."

The three of them got absorbed into searching for the formula, hoping that the Constructicon actually planned out his chemical weapons rather than throw them together and hope that they work. Perceptor was able to analyze what little sample he had and was able to get at least two ingredients out of it. With that in mind, they were able to sort through the datapads and pull out any that contained those two chemicals.

They managed this quicker than thought. With the datapads in hand, Perceptor heaved a sigh of relief. "Now that's over with, we can get out of here! I keep feeling like a Decepticon is going to pop up. …No offense."

The seeker grinned. "None taken."

"Where's Jack?" Skyfire asked, looking around the room carefully.

Starscream's grin vanished.

**oOo**

Hook was starting to get suspicious of things. He's gone two days without any contact with the rest of the Decepticons, and when he felt the Nemesis leave its safe haven in the ocean, he thought that the others were finally coming back.

Only no one appeared.

Leaving the comfort of his own room, he wandered the quiet halls, now suspicious of every sound and shadow that he saw. But eventually his audios began to pick up a faint sound that led him to the bridge of the ship where he stared in shock at what greeted his optics.

A corner of his brain picked up on the fact that Shockwave's one optic visage was on the main view screen, apparently calling in his weekly Cybertronian report to his leader. But that was only a small thing that matter.

The large thing that matter was currently sitting in the chair by the communication console, chirruping happily at the Decepticon on the screen, small vocal indicators flashing with the sound.

Slightly numb to everything around him, Hook walked forward, dismissed Shockwave's call with no explanation, and picked up the small form of what he could swear was the Autobot inventor.

With the screen off, the little form turned his attention to Hook and burbled cheerfully hands reaching out to the Decepticon.

Hook continued to hold the small mech away from him, confused.

The cheerfulness slowly drained away until the sparkling was whimpering, still trying to reach for Hook. That whimpering quickly turned into crying and when the Constructicon was moments away from dropping it when he felt the press of a weapon against his helm.

"Turn around slowly and give him to us."

Surprised, Hook did as he was told, handing the sparkling to outstretched hands while staring down the barrel of an automatic machine gun.

"What the…"

"If you know what's best," Dirge said, his voice easily heard as the sparkling's cries soften in the arms of Ramjet, "You will not question it."

Hook didn't do anything. He just stood there, staring at them for a moment until shouting echoed down the halls, announcing the presence of others. The only one unoccupied, Thrust turned with his weapons aimed at Starscream, Perceptor, and Skyfire. The flyers looked at each other in surprise before Skyfire pushed his way through and took Wheeljack from Ramjet. Ramjet allowed this only because the sparkling was reaching for the large shuttle.

"Are there any others here?" Starscream asked.

"Blitzwing and Astrotrain are elsewhere," Dirge answered, not taking his optics off of Hook. "He's the only one left."

"Good. We should get back to the Autobot base."

Only then did Dirge look away from the threat to sparkling. "What!?"

"It's a long explanation," Perceptor said dryly.

**oOo**

"Elita! Elita!" The femme voice echoed down the halls of the Autobot base on Cybertron and many 'Bots had to press themselves against the walls in order to avoid being bowled over by the eager 'Bot.

Elita sighed as she sat down her stylus, rubbing the bridge of her nose for a moment. The gesture didn't really do anything for the processor ache that was starting to form, but she had seen some of the Earth mechs do it and it had become a comforting gesture for her.

"Can't this wait?" she asked the frantic femme.

"No it can't!" Arcee said, grinning.

"Fine. Hand it over."

"I haven't written up the report yet."

"Then why are you back from your spy mission with no report!?"

"You'll never guess what I saw on Shockwave's screen!"

**oOo**

**Author's Note**: I would have to say that my favorite part was picturing what Shockwave's thought process was when Jackie answered the call X3


	6. Chapter 6

After Starscream gave his orders and left the doorway, Thundercracker turned back to the room and carefully made his way back to Silverbolt. Sideswipe had just gotten done with his energon and he curled up in the Aerialbot's arms, nibbling on a finger as his optics dimmed in recharge.

"You're a natural at this," the seeker said as he placed Sunstreaker down on a pile of blankets. The little warrior fussed for a moment until he adjusted himself to lie on his stomach.

"This just seems…"

"Freakish?"

"Unusual. I mean, my team and I aren't even the same type of flyers that you are. Every time I check my programs, I find nothing like what you described that would be initiated when I'm around sparklings. But as I sit here, holding Sideswipe, I feel… content, calm."

"Working with sparklings will do that for you, flyer or not." Thundercracker studied him for a moment. "It might not be a matter of if you have the programs but whether you need to have them kick started."

"I am not allowing you to even pretend to put one of the little ones in danger!" Silverbolt growled, his hold on Sideswipe tightening. Sideswipe just yawned before continuing to suck on his finger.

Thundercracker chuckled. "And you say you have no sparkling related programs running. Actually, you just gave me an idea. Wait here."

Silverbolt watched as the blue seeker left the room, baffled.

**oOo**

"All of you were brought here for a reason," Thundercracker started off, smiling at the mechs in the room. All of them except for himself and Skywarp were Autobots. The Aerialbots looked between their commander and Thundercracker in question, while Swoop, First Aid, Ratchet, and Prowl watched with intrigued expressions. He had to pull the others away from the sparklings, but Soundwave's cassettes were capable of handling them until an adult could arrive.

"And that reason is all around you," he said, indicating the sparklings still in recharge. They manage to continue with their naps despite the amount of 'Bots in the room and the low voice that Thundercracker spoke with. "Silverbolt has brought it to my attention that very few of you knew much about sparklings, save for the medic, so basically we're going to tell you some rules of sparklings and that not everything is worth a panic attack."

Skywarp snickered. "Such as 'a sparkling will get into the weirdest places. Only panic if you can't find him after five minutes or he's too high to reach without a ladder.' We can grab the little one before he falls and if you can't find him, other mechs will help."

"Sparklings are messy," Thundercracker said next. "Whether it's partially processed energon or just playthings, it'll end up over you at one point in time."

"Don't separate bond mates. We're not sure of the reaction, but we would rather not risk it."

"Don't always give in to a sparkling's demands. They might want things, but it's not very wise to let the sparkling have something potentially harmful because you can't deny a pair of watery optics." Everyone glanced to Prowl who shifted slightly, partially hiding tiny Bluestreak. While everyone knew the Prowl wouldn't give the sparkling something that could hurt him, Bluestreak was always one look away from having him or Jazz carrying him at all times.

Skywarp nodded. "Just because they're crying doesn't mean they're hurt. It could range from one of the other sparklings taking away a toy to just being cranky."

"Which leads us to the importance of napping," Thundercracker said. "Sparklings will go like clockwork when it comes to napping and it's a good idea to let them do so. If they stay up though naps, by the time it comes close to normal recharge time you'll have one very cranky little one."

Air Raid hand went into the air and when the seekers acknowledged him, he asked, "What about our recharge times?"

"You take it where you can and if you seriously need it, you can ask another mech to help," Skywarp answered.

Apparently Air Raid's question brought up a bunch others because other hands went into the air. Smiling, Thundercracker pointed to Slingshot. The little class they were having was a very good idea.

**oOo**

Bluestreak was a good sparkling. He really was. He was quiet. He was quite happy to play by himself or with others. He did what the grown-ups asked of him without too much fuss.

Prowl was glad that the small gunner had really become attached to himself and Jazz, especially when he saw Ratchet chasing Sunstreaker and Sideswipe a while ago. The warriors were apparently over their medic fear because he was sure that it wasn't screams of fear he was hearing.

And the information of sparklings that the seekers gave them was a great deal helpful. He knew more of how to take care of the one that was with him now and that took a lot of worry off of his processors.

With Bluestreak taking his recharge nap in his lap, Prowl leaned back with a report in hand, his other one gently rubbing the sparkling's back. The report in hand wasn't really something new, just a list of how the sparkling groups were split up and their caretakers. The head of those lists were the seekers, Jazz, Soundwave's cassettes, and Blaster and his cassettes.

The Aerialbots were being "trained" to help and Prowl wouldn't be surprised if they each got their own little groups by the time things start to settle down.

Prowl didn't realize his hand had stopped until Bluestreak squeaked softly and Prowl rubbed the gray helm in apology, smiling as the sparkling curled up tighter and slipped back into a deeper recharge.

The next report held a bit more interest. It was the report of Drag Strip and Wildrider from Ratchet. It was easy to see that Ratchet felt it best that the two Stunticons should be watched at all times when with others, but it would be a good time to start introducing Dead End and Breakdown to them, one at a time, with Skywarp watching. Thundercracker might be the more mature seeker of the trine, but Skywarp had the ability to take the sparklings and leave instantly if needed.

A knock on the door alerted Prowl that someone was waiting for him and he looked up to see Jazz standing there, usual smile on his face. "How's it goin'?"

"Back already?"

"Yea. I dropped of what components I could find in Jack's lab. There wasn't much, but hopefully Percy and Screamer could piece together what they need." He walked in, smiling at the sight of Prowl and Bluestreak. Unable to resist, he picked up the sparkling and couldn't stop the smile that formed as Bluestreak gripped onto his armor.

"Be sure to talk to one of the seekers or Ratchet eventually. We got some information of sparklings in generally and it might be helpful."

"And you didn't take notes for me?"

Prowl just gave the saboteur a look and got a grin in return, but anything he was about to say was interrupted by Ratchet comming him.

"Prowl, you're needed at the communication console. We have an incoming transmission from Cybertron."

**oOo**

Elita-One was tapping her stylus against the desk she sat at, impatient. It had surprised her to see Ratchet answering her call and even more so when she realized that the rest of the room at the Ark was completely empty, but she waited for the highest ranking mech on duty either way.

Which turned out to be Prowl. Faintly worried with what could possibly be happening on Earth, Elita asked, "Is there a reason why Optimus is unable to take this call?"

"Optimus is occupied at this point in time. He's with some Decepticon that we brought back to base a day or so ago."

That answer wasn't very satisfying… Elita decided to get to the point.

"One of my scouts came back with rather interesting information."

She was satisfied to see Prowl's door wings rise slightly as the tactician said, "Oh? Anything that would be of use to us on Earth?"

"She witnessed Shockwave calling Megatron, but Shockwave was answered by what appeared to be a sparkling." Elita leaned forward. "A sparkling that looked very much like the inventor, Wheeljack."

The door wings practically shot straight up before quickly settling back down. "I don't why a sparkling would be answering a call on the Decepticon base." Prowl shrugged. "I'm not sure what that's about, ma'am."

"Did something happen to Wheeljack?"

That got a snort of amusement from the second in command. "Other than the usual explosion? Wheeljack is fine." Something happen off screen that caught Prowl's awareness and he said, "I'm sorry, but something requires my attention, ma'am. Until the next call." And he signed off.

Elita sighed and leaned back in her chair, tapping her stylus against her armor before she called Ultra Magnus in. The large blue and red mech stepped in, waiting silently until Elita said, "We're going to Earth. Gather a force to accompany us to the space bridge."

"Yes ma'am."

**oOo**

Prowl turned and glared at Skywarp, the seeker snickering. "Optimus with some of us 'Cons? More like taking a nap by Megatron and Soundwave!"

The Datsun sighed. "Is there a reason why you forced me to cut off the call?"

"Yea!" Skywarp was way too cheerful. "Screamer contacted TC and me. Says that they're almost back and that we have three coneheads coming in!" And before Prowl could say anything, he warped away.

Sighing, Prowl opened a comm. to Jazz and Ratchet, telling them of the news. Either way, things were going to get more interesting.

**oOo**

**Author's note:** Thanks to Sanjuno for the "Sparkling 101" class, though I couldn't think of much to fill it with. Plan to see something of the Stunticons next chapter?


	7. Chapter 7

It didn't take long for the newcomers to get situated with the sparklings. Starscream practically gave Hook to Prowl to figure out what to do with while he took Ramjet, Dirge, and Thrust to one of the "nurseries" to look upon their old team mates and enemies. He knew that they wouldn't bring harm to any of the small ones, but he was sure to go by the room that had Skywarp in it first.

If anything, the black and purple seeker would just grab the endangered sparkling and warp away like how he did when Motormaster threatened Bluestreak.

By the time Prowl pulled him away from the group, the three new flyers each had a sparkling in their arms and were quietly talking amongst themselves as to what to do. They might have the protective programs that other seekers possess, but that didn't mean that they would want to stick with the Autobots.

Not quite sure what to expect, Starscream just followed Prowl to his office, raising an optic ridge as Perceptor joined them before they entered, looking slightly flustered and unsure of what was going on.

Upon reaching Prowl's office, the second in command sat down behind his desk and Perceptor took one of the chairs in front of it. Starscream didn't bother with sitting, especially when none of the chairs at the Ark were made for flyer types like himself.

"I've been informed that Wheeljack was seen by himself while at the Decepticon base."

At least Prowl didn't beat around the bush, as humans would say.

"We took our optics off of him for only a moment!" Perceptor blurted out. "It didn't take us long to find him and he was in safe hands when we did!"

_Jeez,_ Starscream thought. _It's surprising we didn't win the war before now!_

"Is there any reason for this meeting?" the seeker asked tiredly. All he wanted to do right now as find a corner to curl up in and recharge. Maybe in the same area as the napping sparklings. Their energy fields are always soothing to an agitated processor.

"The reason," Prowl stated, optics flashing, "Is that the Autobot forces on Cybertron know about this and will probably send a group to check up on this. We don't need that!"

"Yes we do."

"What?"

The simple word in an odd stereo affect was almost worth going through the "emergency meeting" for. Almost.

"Both sides have come to a standstill because of this incident."

"Well, yes. Only because the leaders are now sparklings."

"_Because_ the second in command of both sides have called a cease fire," Starscream corrected. "In essential, you and I are now the heads of the armies. What we rule stays in effect until the normal rulers can come back to power, or if the rulers are offline, new rulers can be elected. And since Megatron and Optimus are not offline…"

"You and Prowl rule until they can come back," Perceptor finished.

"It would be best if the Autobot forces on Cybertron were to find out about this. Decepticons might take the opportunity to rush here and crush anyone and everyone in a desperate grab to win our multi-million year war. With Autobots knowing, they would be willing to come and defend those that can't."

"You do have a point," Prowl murmured, a thoughtful expression on his face. "We still have a need to prepare an explanation for whatever Autobot force shows up."

"You do that. I have a joor or two calling me for recharge."

Prowl nodded, but before Starscream could leave, he said, "Send Skywarp in with Breakdown when the sparkling comes online."

Starscream smirked, knowing what the Autobot was thinking. "Sure thing."

**oOo**

Skywarp sat in an interrogation room, a barely awake Breakdown in his arms. The sparkling was looking around the room with a faint interest before he noticed the dark form sitting across from them. Wildrider didn't even appear to be coherent, his form slumped over and optics dimmed.

After a moment, Breakdown started to move towards Wildrider, only to stop and look back at Skywarp. The seeker gave him an encouraging smile but did nothing to stop the sparkling as he continued across the table. Breakdown took a minute to get over to the other Stunticon and when he did, he carefully pushed himself up to stand.

Skywarp tensed as Breakdown wobbled slightly. When it seemed that the sparkling would be okay, he leaned forward too much and tumbled off of the table. Before Skywarp could move, though, Wildrider had caught the little one in his hands.

Wildrider stared at the cooing sparkling for a moment, not comprehending what was going on. Breakdown whimpered sadly and reached up to his team mate, his tiny hands patting Wildrider's cheeks.

"Rai? Rai-der?"

Optics slowly brightened. Wildrider's voice was hoarse when he spoke. "Breakdown?"

Breakdown chirped encouragingly and Wildrider shuddered. "Oh Breakdown!" Wildrider curled his arms around the sparkling, sobbing softly and whispering Breakdown's name over and over.

Unnoticed to both of them, Skywarp sat back and relaxed. This might be easier than expected.

**oOo**

Ratchet really thought he was done for a while. At least long enough that he could take a break and brush up on his knowledge of sparklings while in his office. Which is why he didn't hear the main doors to the medbay being opened, or heard the tiny feet walking across the floor. He only knew he had company when he heard a soft voice ask his name from the other side of the desk.

"Ratch?"

Optics flickering in surprise, Ratchet leaned over his desk, spying the red and yellow sparklings on the floor. "What are you two doing here?" he asked darkly. It didn't matter that they were sparklings. He knew what they were like grown up.

Sideswipe shifted, doing his best to hold up Sunstreaker who was draped over his back. "Sunny hot. Not fine."

The medic moved over to them, crouching down so that he could pick up the yellow twin easier. "What do you mean Sunny's hot…" He trailed off as Sunstreaker gripped the hand testing his temperature weakly, optics flickering faintly. Sideswipe was right! Sunstreaker's body was running hotter than what should be normal!

Faintly worried, he took the yellow sparkling into the main area and laid him down on a berth before gently connecting a monitor to the sparkling's system, only to watch the temperature gauge climb higher. "Slaggit! Sideswipe, I need you to… Sideswipe?"

Turning, he found the red twin collapsed on the floor of the office. Hurrying over, he picked Sideswipe up, his spark freezing when Sideswipe turned to snuggle closer to the medic's chassis. Already, Ratchet could feel the sparkling's temperature increasing, much like Sunstreaker's.

Quickly, Ratchet opened a comm. line to the seekers. "I need to you check over all the sparklings and bring me the ones that have temperatures higher than normal!"

Dear Primus, he hoped that it was only these two and none of the others were affected…

Ratchet rushed around the room, pulling out a few human ice packs from a freezer and placing them around the Sparklings, watching their temperature steady before dropping slightly.

Before he could feel relieved, Air Raid walked in with Trailbreaker, Red Alert, and Smokescreen. "They're all running hot."

"Are they the only ones?"

"In my group." The flyer carefully placed the three sparklings down on the next berth. "What's happening?"

"I don't know," Ratchet answered softly, pulling out more monitors.

**oOo**

**Author's Note:** Sorry it took me so long to get this up! Also, TaintedTamer drew an awesome pic for the story! Please check out the link in my profile for it!


	8. Chapter 8

Jazz was shocked but yet not surprised when he walked into the medbay, following Starscream who had an armful of overly warm sparklings. He knew that the seekers and the few still grown Autobots had begun to see some of the sparklings as their own. Skyfire and Perceptor had practically adopted Wheeljack (or the other way around), and Prowl and Jazz himself had taken Bluestreak into their lives even more than before.

That's why it wasn't really surprising when he saw Prowl easily lifting Thundercracker off of the floor with one arm, the seeker pressed against the wall and growling angrily.

The reason why was easy to see.

Bluestreak was sitting on a berth, crying and reaching for Prowl while Ratchet was checking him over.

"What's happening?"

Skywarp looked up from where he was sitting with some sparkling, rubbing their backs soothingly. "I went to find some of the sparklings that've been overheating and little Blue was one of them. I got him and brought him back here. Prowl followed us but when TC tried to stop him…" He grimaced.

Jazz nodded and walked up to Prowl, placing both hands on the arm holding Thundercracker up. Overly bright optics turned to him and Jazz didn't dare turn his gaze away from him. In a calm voice yet commanding voice, Jazz said, "Put Thundercracker down. He cares for the sparklings as much as we do."

It took a few kliks for the command to filter into his processor, and when it did, Prowl slowly let the seeker down to the ground. Thundercracker didn't complained, just rubbing at the place that Prowl had grabbed him and thankfully Ratchet had finished examining Bluestreak. The sparkling was wrapped in a blanket with a few ice packs hidden in the folds and the medic placed him in Prowl's arms.

The tactician calmed down immediately, optics dimming back to their normal blue as the sparkling whimpered and Prowl nuzzled his nose against his cheek. The two of them seemed to go off into their own world, just the two of them and Jazz smiled faintly, finding the picture sweet despite the current surroundings.

Bringing his processors back to the present, he went up to Ratchet who had begun inspecting one of the sparklings that Starscream brought. "What's the diagnosis, Ratchet?"

The medic shook his head. "I'm not picking up on any viruses or anything else unusual. The monitors and tests are coming up clean! The only thing that's happening is that they have higher than normal temperature."

"Who all is affected?"

"I'm suspecting all of the sparklings are, but the ones that were Decepticons are more affected than the Autobot ones."

"It's their bodies," Starscream said, optics wide as he stared down the softly whimpering Megatron, gently running a finger down the tiny mech's cheek. "Their bodies are overheating and their cooling systems aren't compensating for it."

"That's ridiculous!" Air Raid said. "They're sparklings—"

"Their minds might be sparklings and their body size to match, but I guarantee you that they still have all of the modifications of their adult bodies… Who had Sunstreaker and Sideswipe?"

"I did." Thundercracker took a step forward. "They were playing and when I didn't see them any more, I thought they had laid down for a nap like some of the others did. I didn't see them leave the room. I'm sorry."

Jazz placed a hand on the seeker's shoulder, knowing that he was genuinely remorseful that he had let two sparklings in his care wander out of the base but Ratchet just shook his head, knowing that those two would escape at any chance they had.

"If they were overheating because of that, then why hasn't this happened before?"

Starscream shrugged. "It just might have taken a while for it to appear. It's only been two days since they were changed."

"Primus knows it feels longer," Skywarp muttered. Thundercracker just smiled, shaking his head slightly.

"How has Skyfire and Percy been handling Jackie?" Jazz asked after a moment.

"First Aid was sent to check on Wheeljack. He didn't seem to be affected like the others… Probably because he wasn't playing like the others were."

"And the Nemesis is much cooler than this place," Skywarp added helpfully. "Temperature wise. Wheeljack probably didn't heat up all that much while crawling around there."

Ratchet just scowled at the mech who promptly returned his attention back to the sparklings that were near by. Sighing softly, the medic turned towards one of the last few sparklings, knowing that while the others all had the same problem and these few would too, one couldn't be too careful when it came to sparklings.

"So are we just going to need to monitor them while they're playing? What if it just gets worse?" Jazz glanced back at Prowl who was still chirping softly to Bluestreak, who appeared close to recharge but still chirping back.

"Then we pack the sparklings down with ice packs, take them to the Nemesis, and force Skyfire, Perceptor, and Starscream to work fast on the device and chemical formula."

For a moment, Jazz couldn't tell if Ratchet was serious. Honestly, he hoped that he never had to find out either.

**oOo**

He had taken his optics off of the sparklings for one moment! He could have sworn that they were still at his feet when he turned around to pick up Mixmaster who had burped up some energon and only had started to clean the liquid off of the sparkling when a loud crash filled the room behind him.

Skywarp winced, knowing that it couldn't be good to hear that, but there were no pained or startled cries. Just giggles and chirrups and coos of happy sparklings. When he turned around to see what had happened, Mixmaster clapped his hands, gurgling cheerfully at the sight of a dozen colors spread out across the floor.

"Oh Primus… I've been good haven't I?" he asked the ceiling before venting a sigh and walking over to the mess. There were two sparklings in the middle of the colors, Inferno and Red Alert playing with the paint, Inferno trying to show his tiny bondmate that the liquid was okay to mess with and that it wouldn't harm him.

The seeker had only caught just seen a set of footprints in green leading from the paint just before tiny hands pushed at him hard, overbalancing him into the mess. "Scrapper!" he growled, the giggle that answered him confirming his guess.

And apparently this was taking as permission because only a moment later, Mixmaster's tiny hands were pressed against his cheeks, leaving streaks of blue. Pushing himself up, he sat back and watched as Scrapper joined with Red Alert and Inferno, turning the colors into a larger mess of brown.

Eventually, long after he set Mixmaster on the ground, Skywarp began to play in the paint too, writing out strings of Cybertronian glyphs, and smiling as he watched the other four trying to copying them. Red Alert had a bit of trouble but Inferno was taking the time to show him the proper way to write them.

The glyph lesson was soon erased in favor of crudely drawn mechs, Skywarp's own figures looking worse than the other ones. He had gotten so far into it he didn't hear the door to their area open. Or the footsteps coming up behind.

"Skywarp!"

The seeker "eep"ed and stood quickly, only to fall flat on his after as he slipped. The sparkling giggled and he looked up at Thundercracker, smiling faintly. "I can explain…"

"I don't care if you can explain," he said. "You still get to clean this up. After you clean the sparklings. Sunstreaker won't be happy to know his paints were used like this."

All four of the sparkling and their current watcher flinched at the name and four sets of optics looked up at Skywarp. Looking down at them, he said, "I guess it's time for a bath."

The reactions were various. Inferno and Scrapper looked up at him as if he granted them with the greatest treat known. Red Alert and Mixmaster did their best to get as far away from Skywarp as possible, tracking paint everywhere. Thundercracker reacted immediately, his thrusters kicking on and letting him hover out of reach of the colorful little ones.

Sighing, Skywarp pointed to Inferno and Scrapper and told them to stay there even as he went off to grab the other two, making sure to push Thundercracker out of the way with red and orange hands. It didn't matter how quick they ran. Skywarp caught Red Alert and Mixmaster quickly, a sparkling under each arm as he walked back to the other two.

Inferno stepped right up to him, reaching for Red Alert's hand and chirping soothingly even as the tiny Lamborghini began to sniff with tears running down his cheeks. Scrapper grabbed on to his leg and when he was sure that Inferno was secure, he warped straight to the washracks, glad to find the place empty.

Not bothering to soothe the now distraught sparklings in his arms, he went into one of the stalls, setting Red Alert down and trusting Inferno to keep him in place as he turned on the water, making sure his body shielded the little ones until it was at the correct warmth.

Mixmaster was the first one to face the water, settling in Skywarp's arms rather grumpily as the seeker picked up a wash cloth and began to wipe the paint away from the sparkling's face. The little Decepticon fussed and tried to turn his away but it didn't matter to Skywarp who quickly got use to it and cleaned the soft metal efficiently. Next were the arms and torso, and then his legs.

Mixmaster had stopped protesting at the end, his expression sullen as Skywarp sat him on the ground and he pouted up at the seeker. Skywarp ignored it in favor of turning to Red Alert, not surprised when he saw that Inferno had picked up a wash cloth and began to clean him. The sparkling had a look to match Mixmaster's, but didn't pother fussing.

Scrapper was frolicking in the shower water and while he didn't have trouble with taking baths, it was more fun to play in it that to clean. He had to be caught before standing still long enough to allow anyone to clean him. And the moment it looked like everything was cleaned off, he would start to get antsy again. When it looked like Scrapper was as clean as he can be without a full bath, Skywarp let him play around as he began to help clean Inferno.

He had learned long ago not to really do anything to Red Alert because he only wanted Inferno. That was acceptable because it allowed Skywarp to care for Inferno as Inferno cared for Red Alert. Red Alert appeared to almost be in recharge by the time everything was done and after shutting off the water, Skywarp wrapped the sparklings in large towels, rubbing them dry quickly before ushering them out of the washracks.

He walked them down the halls to the closest room that would have sparklings and a watcher, only to open the door to chaos. Skywarp's optics widened as he watched a confused Ramjet and Air Raid chase around six sparkling, each one covered in a different type of icky substance.

Mixmaster squeaked happily, wanting to join in with the festivities but Skywarp backed out enough for the door to shut. "Let's find a different room," he suggested. Inferno chirped in agreement and turned Red Alert to continue down the hall, searching for a quiet room for all of them.

**oOo**

**Author's Note:** Never _ever_ let me take this long to write a chapter. This should have been finished forever ago.


End file.
